Musical indicator



(No Model.)

J. MAGGS.

MUSICAL INDICATOR.

Patented Dee. 25, 1888.

' One WM' Three 3km-Vsone Show@ WIW 5555 WM d. L/ .460 f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BIAGGS, OF CANAXDAIGI', NEWT YORK.

MUSICAL INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,067, dated December 25, 1888.

Application tiled August 1'7, 1888.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN IIAGGs, ot Canandaigua, in the county of Ontairo and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Musical Indicators; f and I do hereby declare that the following is l a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the drawings accompanyin g this application.

My invention relates to that class of inusical indicators in which a flat sheet is used, with a slide moving up and down thereon, said I parts being marked with musical characters to indicate to the eye the different changes to be made to produce the desired effect.

The object of my present invention is to indicate to the eye the changes necessaryv to be made to produce on the key-board of a inusical instrument the musical chords iii the different keys, the tonic; sub-dominant, and dominant chords, making forty-eight different i changes, as here given; also what keys to use for the diatonic scale in each key.

The invention further consists iii the conibiiiation on the saine sheet (one on the front and the other on the back) of two indicators, one indicating the chords, as above described, the other the transposition of the scale, and i a single slide common to both indicators, all as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l. is a t'ront face view of the device. Fig. 2 is a rear face view of the saine. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross- I section in line .r c of Figs. l and 2.

a indicates the itat sheet on which the indicators are applied, the same being of any desired size and shape and provided with a lon l gitudinal slot or opening, t), to allow proper movement of the slide resting therein.

c is the slide, consisting of a device that g runs up and down in the slot l), and is provided with two overlapping faces that run, re spectively, on opposite sides of the scale. It is conveniently made of three thicknesses, the narrow one being in the center and ruiming 1 in the slot, while the wider ones are attached y thereto and run outside the scale on opposite y sides.

Figure 1 shows the chord-indicator. At the left is marked a fac-simile of a portion of a key-board of a piano or organ, as shown at d. l

tonic scale.

and the chord will bcproducml.

representing the diatonic scale.

g left with the series of pointers z" i' Serial No. 283,049. (No model.)

At the right are marked lilies j'. indicating the chromatic. scale, and outside this are marked the names of the key-signatures, as shown at g. The slide is provided with lines, letters, figures, and pointers, as shown. The figures 1, 2, El, itc., pertain to the dia- The letters relate to the chords, 'I' fortoiiic, S for sub-dominant, and D for dominant. The lines serve the purpose of keeping each separate and enabling them to be distinguished. The figures are arranged in the first column at the left, and the series of letters T S I) T iii successive columns and in the positions shown iii the drawings. The left halt' of the slide relates tothe bass, for which the left. hand is used, and the right half tothe other parts, for which the right hand is used. On the right of the slide are two pointers, 71 71,whicli tally with and iiidicate the key-signatures g at the right of the scale. At the left of the slide is aseries of pointers, i, which register with thekeys and indicate toiles.

The object is to prod iice the chords iii different keys. For example, take the key of (f, which is the natu ral. Place the slide so that l the pointers at the right come opposite the key-signature naturat For the iirst chord take the tonic, which is placed in thc left-hand column of letters 'l on the slide. Strike all the keys which come opposite these letters` In the saine 1 manner, by striking all the keys opposite S the sub-dominant chord will be produced, and so on through all the series. In thc saine manner the chords iii all the different keys may be produced by adjusting the slide to,

the desired.key-signature.

On the opposite or back 'face of the scaleindicator is a similar fac-simile of the keyboard d', chromatic scale j", and key-sigiiatures g. The slide (which is of less length on this side) is provided with the figures 1, 2, 3, &c., also with the musical characters` i (10,. req K111i, fav C S01, 111,77 t. Si, (i (10,77 The slide is provided at the right with the pointers li 7L', that tally with the key-signatures, and at the if', which indicate tones. The pointers h and h, on opposite faces of the indicator, register with the IOO saine key-signatures at any adjustment of the slide. Therefore both indicators indicate the same key at the same time.

The object of the indicator' shown in Fig. 2 is to exhibit to the eye in a material form the different transpositions in music, while the indicator shown in Fig. l. is to indicate the different keys to strike to produce chords.

Ihe whole is arranged in one device, with a the letters 'l, 5, D, T,indicating the tonic, sub-dominant, and dominant chords on the key-board at whatever position the slide is adjusted, as herein shown and described.

Q. In a musical indicator, the combination of a sheet having on each of its faces the fac-simile of a. key-board on one side and the key-signatures names on the other, and a single slide common to both scales provided with pointers Von one edge, the register with the key-signatures and pointers on the other edge that indicate tones, one face of the sheet forming a chord-indicator and the other a transpositionindica-tor, as herein shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN MAGGS. lVitnesses:

C. W. BROWN, R. R. POTEET. 

